Meaningful Shopping #bebetter52

It’s the most magical time of the year! Many people are shopping for the perfect gifts for friends and family. And gift giving should be embraced! Studies show that simple acts of generosity actually boost our immune systems, relieve pain and can even make our hearts stronger. If that’s not enough of a reason to give-give-give, how about knowing your gift directly impacts the life of a female artisan and her family thousands of miles away?

The way that we shop and the things that we purchase have a lasting impact on the global economy. As consumers when we shop more responsibly, we have the power to change the way our products are made. With the holidays approaching, this week’s #bebetter52 challenge is to spread the cheer near and far by shopping socially responsible.

One way to do so is seek companies and products that are fair trade. “Fair trade” is a bit of a buzz term – what exactly does it mean? To get to the bottom of it, we spoke with Hannah Skvarla, a human rights activist who partnered with Lauren Conrad to found The Little Market – an online marketplace supporting artisans around the world. When shopping responsibly you will find something for every budget among these various sites and stores, and likely something similar to what you already purchase for the same price. But this way your money will help support fair-trade wages.

The Little Market and similar organizations help artisans fine-tune designs, market their products and teach them to cover basic costs of materials, transportation and labor – with the end goal of empowerment and improved livelihoods for female artisans and their families. Their goodies are one-of-a kind and include festive holiday wreaths and ornaments, hand-painted jewelry boxes, cozy alpaca scarves, hand-blown glassware, block-printed aprons and toddler-wear, to name a few.

The social responsible shopping is taking off and thanks to our tech-savvy world, navigating the larger marketplace has never been easier. So this holiday season, be a conscious consumer and shop fair trade. You’ll spread the joy not only to those near and dear – but to an artisan and her family thousands of miles away!